Mort by Terry Pratchett

Mort was my favorite Terry Pratchett book on the top 100 list. I’ve now completed all 5 Terry Pratchetts on the list and more exciting than that is the fact that Mort was my 50th read on the list. (For those of you who failed 2nd grade, that means I'm halfway done!) Now, I’m just hoping that the second half of the list will take less time to read than did the first half (28 years).


This story (like The colour of Magic, Night Watch and Guards! Guards!) takes place on Discworld—the planet that travels through space on the back of a giant turtle. The main character’s name is Mortimer (Mort for short) and is regularaly referred to by others as “boy” due to his lack of skills, non-descript characteristics, and minimal self confidence. After failing to be chosen by any of the employers at the job fair for an apprenticeship, Death (yes THE Death) hires Mort to be his apprentice.

As the story develops, so does Mort. He learns through challenges and failures as he plays the role of Death; meanwhile navigating a relationship with Death’s adopted daughter. The story is very amusing, easy to read and the plot is clever and unique.

Favorite Quotes:

“The creator had a lot of remarkably good ideas when he put the world together, but making it understandable hadn’t been one of them.” (pg 5)

“Mort hesitated. He wanted to say: you’re wrong, he’s [Death's] not like that at all, he doesn’t care if people are good or bad so long as they’re punctual. And kind to cats, he added.” (pg 70)

If this were a movie, I'd rate it: PG-13

Overall Grade: B

Would I recommend this book to my friends: Yes…except for my friends who are Twilight series junkies.